Connoisseurs of campground-set body count films will take delight in the carnage-filled Cub, the feature directorial debut of Jonas Govaerts. The slasher film essentials are (mostly) all accounted for and some tropes are effectively turned on their head. And, here we have a director who is drawing from nostalgia and clearly has a confident grasp on the architecture of the slasher sub-genre. What he understands is that he needs to make a movie his own, give it some personality and that he does successfully in a slick, aggressive and merciless way.

Cub really doesn’t pull any punches. There’s a lot of morally questionable things at play and perhaps one genuinely upsetting scene for the animal lovers out there, but holy shit did I have fun with this one.

Fantastic Fest celebrates its 10th Anniversary with its biggest year yet with 80 exciting films including 22 World Premieres, 43 North American & US Premiere screenings and 38 short films. The final wave includes films like The Town That Dreaded Sundown, Horns, Everly, It Follows and more. A full breakdown is below.

Yours truly will be on the ground covering the fest, so stay tuned for Shock’s coverage.

Fantastic Fest 2014 takes place September 18-25th in Austin, Texas at the newly reopened Alamo South Lamar and Highball.

Four new posters to show off this afternoon. The first – and my favorite of the lot – is for Cub, followed by the sequel Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead, the Elijah Wood-starring Open Windows and the supernatural intervention thriller Inner Demons.

Cub is making its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. The movie has been described as following

All eyes are on Cub, a new horror film making its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival. A trailer hit The Playlist today giving us a first-look at Jonas Govaerts’ film, which is getting some early, strong buzz.

The movie has been described as following “troubled twelve-year-old Sam (Maurice Luijten) [who] heads off on a summer camping trip with his Cub Scout troupe.